GOP’s $100 Billion Promise Now A $32 Billion Joke

Remember that promise the GOP made during the election to cut $ 100,000,000 from the current budget?

Yea, neither do they:

House Republican leaders on Thursday said they would seek $32 billion in spending cuts from the resolution currently funding the government.

Republicans framed their proposal as cutting $74 billion from President Obama’s 2011 budget request. However, because Obama’s budget was never approved by the last Congress, the cuts would actually be made against a continuing resolution now funding the government.

That resolution is to expire on March 4, and if lawmakers do not agree on another short-term measure or one funding the government for the rest of the year, they risk a government shutdown.

The GOP decision sets up a two-front battle with congressional Democrats and President Obama, who have warned that immediate spending cuts would damage the economy, and with conservative Tea Party-backed Republicans who want to make deeper cuts to spending.

The Congressional Budget Office has projected a $1.5 trillion deficit for the year.

The proposed spending ceiling is less than the GOP pledge during the fall campaign to cut $100 billion in “non-security” discretionary funding.

Of course it is.

FILED UNDER: Congress, Deficit and Debt, US Politics, , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. An Interested Party says:

    This sounds similar to the idea that some around here were floating that shutting down the Department of Education would actually do something of significance to help with the budget deficit…

  2. reid says:

    Who here (raise your keyboards) thinks it would NOT hurt the economy if they were actually able to cut $100B from the budget? Has a reputable third party made some effort to determine the effect on unemployment alone?

  3. Axel Edgren says:

    Can we stop with the deficit-scare now? The only reason it is hoisted as an issue constantly is because they believe they can impede Obama with deficit horror stories and lay the blame of creating it on him more than anyone else. There is very little seriousness from voters or politicians here – no one is really tricking anyone. I wonder how poor Brooks and the other Very Serious People are going to justify their continued crush on Paul Ryan.

  4. tom p says:

    Doug, that is $100,000,000,000.

    You missed by 3 digits.

    As to your post…. I am SHOCKED…. I mean SHOCKED…. that the Repubs are….

    liars.

  5. Patrick T. McGuire says:

    Sounds like they might be following Obama’s pattern of making promises and then ignoring them later. And since y’all didn’t mind it when Obama did it, I don’t expect y’all to make a big issue of it here, right?

  6. tom p says:

    “Sounds like they might be following Obama’s pattern of making promises and then ignoring them later.”

    Wow, that didn’t take long: “Obama did it, therefor it is ok if the GOP does it too…”

    Tell me Patrick, did you complain as long and as loudly when Bush decided Habeus Corpus was null and void as I did when Obama let that stand?????

    Or is it only OK when the GOP follows Obama, but not when Obama follows the GOP?

    (see? I can play that game too)

  7. anjin-san says:

    No one could have seen this coming…

  8. Oscar D says:

    100 billion is what, less than 1% of our deficit?
    Let’s talk real money.
    We can do away with everything in government except for the military (Constitutionally mandated) and the entitlement programs and still run a deficit.
    So where do you think the real problem is?
    (Well outside of our politicians spending opur money so they can remain in power)

  9. Steven Plunk says:

    It’s smaller yet the Dems are calling the cuts ‘draconian’. So is perfect once again the enemy of good? Any cuts are good and should be praised.

  10. Seems to me the GOP has gone backwards. Guess we have gone From Buckley to Bachmann

  11. Rickrick says:

    The Republican leaders are timid frauds. They love to spend, they just don’t want to pay the bill.

  12. Jeff says:

    political cartoon: checking in on the House GOP’s big New Year’s Resolution – http://bit­.ly/dSvwok